“The Han Solo jacket actually surfaced in a costume rental house a number of years ago. It was made for The Empire Strikes Back by a relatively small costume vendor in the U.K., and it was produced on a made-to-hire basis, meaning it went back into their rental stock afterwards,” he says. “That seems a little crazy today, but at the time it was just a movie and it was just a gray jacket. It’s really only today that there’s substantial monetary value—collector value—associated with these things.”
Every item sold by Prop Store comes with a certificate of authenticity and a lifetime guarantee. So exhaustive was the research into the Han Solo jacket that screen matching was employed—a process by which details, down to the stitching on the inside collar in this case, were examined frame-by-frame in the film and compared to the item to prove legitimacy.
The 2018 auction will be preceded by a preview exhibition open to the public at London’s BFI Imax theater Sept. 6-20. Bids can also be placed online, and the auction will be livestreamed.
“The people who collect movie memorabilia collect it, in the most part, for the nostalgia aspect, not as an investment,” adds Sohmers. “Those that collect for investment choose wisely before they spend their money. This stuff, as Indiana Jones has said, belongs in a museum.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.